


Back To The Beginning

by AEpixie7



Series: Ineffable Bureaucracy [22]
Category: Good Omens (TV)
Genre: F/F, F/M, Friendship, How Do I Tag, Lost Memories, Plot, Worldbuilding, squad goals
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-29
Updated: 2020-05-29
Packaged: 2021-03-02 22:54:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,853
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24444652
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AEpixie7/pseuds/AEpixie7
Summary: Michael has a plan to enlighten Beelzebub and Gabriel about The Fall.
Relationships: Beelzebub/Gabriel (Good Omens), Dagon/Michael (Good Omens)
Series: Ineffable Bureaucracy [22]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1437652
Comments: 13
Kudos: 65





	Back To The Beginning

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry it's been so long since I updated! Been having motivation issues. But we're getting into the endgame now. Plot galore. I have such BIG IDEAS! (There will prob be a smutty epilogue because... y'all know me). Also, sorry it's short, the next update is likely to be a monster, so I wanted to split this part.

Gabriel paced the dining hall of the castle, occasionally glancing over where Beelzebub sat atop the table, pulling greasy, strong-smelling gross matter out of a paper bag. She tossed a few of the items to Dagon, who caught them and excitedly plopped onto the table next to her and dug in. 

“I don’t like this. Michael's never called all of us together for a meeting,” Gabriel said nervously, tapping his chin in thought as he continued to pace. 

“Awfully rude of her to call uzzz all here and then not show up on time,” Beelzebub grumbled, unwrapping some of her food and taking a large bite. 

“That’s what I mean, it’s not like her. Why aren’t you worried, Bee? What if something's happened? Or Dagon? How can you not be worried, she's your…” Gabriel stumbled and flushed under Dagon's scrutiny. Partner? Lover? Girlfriend? Which one was least offensive to a demon? Apparently none of them, based on Dagon’s glare. 

“Well your… you know. Your angel! Fuck. And how can either of you eat that stuff, it smells awful.” 

“No, _Hell_ smells awful, this smells like Taco Bell,” Beelzebub said with a full mouth, which made Gabriel blanch. She was still cute though, even if she was currently being disgusting. 

“I’m not worried,” Dagon said, also with a mouth full of food. She washed it down with a loud slurp from a straw sticking out of a horrendously oversized plastic cup. “She'll be here. I told her I'd get cinnamon twists. She'd burn Heaven to the ground at the promise of cinnamon twists,” Dagon said with an adoring smile. Beelzebub grabbed a package of food from the bag and shot Dagon an evil grin. 

“You mean thezzze?” 

“Don’t you dare, you bitch…” 

“Would be a shame if someone dumped them on the floor…” 

Gabriel pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed as Dagon and Beelzebub wrestled over the food, cursing and griping at each other. 

Sweet, sweet lightning saved him from his torment. The crash announced Michael's arrival outside, and within minutes she came storming into the dining hall, marched straight to the two entangled demons, and snatched the package of food out of their hands. 

“For Heaven's sake, it's like children with you demons. Leave you to your own devices for a few minutes…” Michael fussed, jamming a cinnamon twist in her mouth and chewing furiously. Gabriel had never seen her _eat_ before, and seeing her eat _angrily_ was honestly one of the most amusing sights he’d ever seen. He bit back his laughter when she scowled at him. Now that he noticed, she did seem quite agitated, perhaps teasing her was not the best idea at present. 

“Kind of you to join us Michael,” Beelzebub taunted, receiving an irate glare from Michael. 

“Piss off, Prince. It's only been an hour. You could do with a lesson in the virtue of patience. As for the rest of you…” she glanced around at Dagon and Gabriel, and upon seeing varying degrees of worry in their eyes, inhaled another cinnamon twist. “I do apologize. I was having second thoughts…” 

Gabriel straightened as he realized she was shaking. 

“Oh Hell,” Michael cursed as she tossed her food onto the table and leaned against it, and Dagon scooted forward to rub her shoulders. Michael's features softened and she reached up to pat Dagon’s hand gratefully. 

“Well… I called you all here because there’s something I have to do, and it involves… all of you,” Michael said nervously, her eyes cast down to the floor as she dug the toe of her ankle boot into the rug. Even Beelzebub seemed to recognize the nervous energy surrounding Michael, and she hopped down from the table to stand beside Gabriel. She stopped just short of holding his hand. 

“Gabriel, you said something to me in the armory. When… I was angry and you tried to help. I haven’t stopped thinking about it. Something you saw in Beelzebub’s dream. I believe…” Michael took a deep breath and fidgeted, before steeling herself and looking up to meet Gabriel's eyes. “I believe I may be able to show you what happened. Before the Fall.” 

Gabriel's breath halted in his lungs and a knot began forming in his chest. He swallowed once. 

“What?” he whispered, and Beelzebub did actually take his hand. 

“That ritual you saw in Beelzebub's dream. It’s not just sharing auras, it’s sharing everything. Memories, physical sensations, your very _soul_. Angels used to do it all the time. For comfort and for intimacy. I believe what you saw was a memory. Some echo of the past buried deep in Beelzebub's mind, and you saw it because she was sharing your aura while you slept.” 

“Didn’t know you'd shared so much of our personal life with her, Gabriel,” Beelzebub murmured. 

“She’s my best friend, Bee,” he responded, giving her hand a reassuring squeeze. She grumbled but finally addressed Michael. 

“Yeah, alright, what does any of this have to do with you?” 

Michael took a deep breath and straightened. “I believe if I can share my aura with the both of you while we're all asleep, I can access my own memories of the past. I swore to the Almighty I would never tell you about the Fall. But I never said I wouldn’t… _show_ you.” 

Dagon jumped down from the table, speaking furiously. “No. Absolutely not. I won’t allow it.” 

“Dagon you don’t understand, this is something I have to do…” 

“Michael,” Gabriel interrupted loudly. “I have to agree with Dagon. The risk is too great. You could fall for disobeying a direct order from the Almighty. And that's far too vague of a loophole to risk jeopardizing your soul.” 

Michael let out a sorrowful chuckle. “Angels have been manipulating loopholes in the Almighty's decrees for millennia, it's essentially second nature to us now,” she teased, though her eyes held no mirth. “I know you both are simply worried for my well-being, and I appreciate that, I truly do. But… you don’t understand. The truth about the past… it’s been poisoning everything I've done, for over six thousand years and I can’t hold it in any longer. It will destroy me to keep this secret forever. If I could go back and change the things I did…” she faltered a moment, her expression pained. She pushed away from the table, but not before caressing Dagon's jawline lovingly with her knuckles. She approached Gabriel and took his free hand, her eyes drifting down to where his other held Beelzebub's. She looked up at the Prince. 

“The last time I was faced with a choice, I chose Heaven over my friends. And I lost... all of them. This is my decision to make. If I fall for choosing love over loyalty then I guess... I'll still have the love on the other side.” 

Gabriel let out an exasperated breath, and squeezed Michael's hand. He had seen the state of her aura in Heaven- so battered and spent that he hardly knew how she could function anymore. It ate at him to know what had happened before the Fall, and why he was forbidden from that knowledge, but it terrified him to think of the repercussions. The Archangel Michael… as a demon? He despised the thought. Not because being a demon was anything to scowl at, he knew that now. But because the process of becoming one was so indescribably terrifying. He would rather remain in the dark than see his best friend go through that kind of agony. But she was already in agony, that much was clear. If coming clean about the past helped stitch that wound in her soul, even a little… then he had to support her in that. 

*** 

Michael pounded several shots of some sort of clear liquor from the parlor bar as Gabriel made himself comfortable on the sofa. Beelzebub sat rigidly next to him, her leg bouncing nervously. Gabriel tried to rub her back and soothe whatever was bothering her, but it only made her tense harder. She turned quickly to face him, and to his shock, her eyes were glistening. 

“Maybe we shouldn’t do this, Gabriel,” she blurted, her bottom lip quivering. He glanced at Michael, then quickly back toward Beelzebub. She would never let Michael see her tears, and yet here they were, clinging to her lashes and spilling down her cheeks. He reached up and wiped them away with his thumb, then cradled her neck softly in his hand. 

“I don’t remember the Fall,” Beelzebub said quickly, before Gabriel could question her. “I don’t know what I did to deserve my punishment, but if it was enough to make God stop loving me then… how do I…” she sniffed hard and fought against the knot in her throat. “How do I know you won't…” 

“Oh Bee,” Gabriel gasped and pulled her into his arms, squeezing her tightly. He kissed the top of her head before leaning back enough to look her in the eyes, his hands clasped tightly over her upper arms. “Bee, look at me. No you're not the angel you used to be. It's true. But you have to understand, neither am I. Whoever I was then is just as foreign to me now as any of the Fallen. But _this_ angel… _this_ Gabriel, fell in love with _you._ ” 

Beelzebub sniffed once and nodded, though she did not seem convinced. Michael approached and knelt in front of both of them, her jaw set firmly and her eyes ringed red. 

“I have to do this. I have kept an entire world of memories locked up inside me and you have been my salvation. Both of you. You led me to Dagon. I cannot move on without this. I have to let go of the pain from my past that I've kept caged in my heart or it will turn me to darkness and devastation as it did so many others,” Michael reached out towards the Prince, and to everyone's shock, held out her hand. “Will you let me show you?” 

Beelzebub stared at her hand for breathless moments, but took it tentatively. Her voice contained none of its usual bite when she spoke. “Yes, Michael. If Gabriel trusts you then… so do I.” 

Michael gave her a sorrowful smile, before standing and approaching the chair facing the sofa. She sank into it and let out a shaky sigh, her eyes purposefully avoiding Dagon as the demon stared daggers at her. Dagon sank to her knees beside the chair, her hands draped weakly over Michael's forearm. Michael hummed at her, and tipped Dagon's chin up with her delicately gold manicured fingers. She traced her bottom lip with her thumb, then kissed away the tremble her touch had caused. 

“I need you to watch over us. I can only do this if we're all asleep, and my aura will be stretched thin. If anything happens, anything changes… I need you to wake us up. Can you do that, love?” 

Dagon cast her eyes to the ground and sighed, nodding slowly. 

“Very well then. Let's begin.”


End file.
